Helping disabled veterans

  
Column by David Cox
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As the General Convention goes about its business in Richmond, it’ll take up a matter that everyone voted for last time. Before they do again, I hope they’ll look at a better way of meeting their objective: helping disabled veterans.

Last winter, the House and Senate passed unanimously a constitutional amendment that would exempt veterans, who because of their service to the nation were 100 percent disabled according to the Veterans Administration, from paying local property tax. As a proposed amendment, it gets another reading this winter, and if passed again would go to us voters in November.

At the time I groused about it as still yet another unfunded mandate by which the state, which usually insists local governments pay for some duty, in this case cuts into the revenues of localities: property taxes are among the few funding sources for cities and counties. I noted that all politicians oppose unfunded mandates…then all our Assembly politicians voted for one. Continue reading “Helping disabled veterans” »